Islington grandmother launches new way to tackle youth mental health issues
By Sue Scott-Horne
The Chair of the London Assembly has visited EGAR to talk about youth issues and was 
highly impressed with EGAR's resources.
Endorsement from Darren Johnson:
'EGAR produce interactive educational games for young people, which are designed to stimulate structured discussion on vital topics for young people, such as alcohol depression and drugs. This excellent project deserves much wider recognition and I would love to see it made available to all London based Youth Services'.
Sue Scott-Horne is a mother of four, grandmother of five and founder and developer of EGAR Educational Games And Resources.
Over a career spanning twenty five years in Islington Education Department, London teaching Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) addressing issues including: Drugs Awareness, Smoking, Self- Responsibility, Your Life?, Interview Skills, Presenting Yourself and Decisions/ Consequences to teens and young adults, Scott-Horne has seen youth mental health issues escalate dramatically.
Concerned by the inner city young people with mental health issues, she wanted to make a difference and started to scribble, devising educative discussion card sets and posters launching EGAR in 2008.
Rather than simply punishing troubled teens Scott-Horne wants us to address the underlying causes. More often than not it is as basic as encouraging them to come away from the screens and turn off their mobile phones, iPods and really think about and talk about the issues that affect them. Scott-Horne has devised 25 sets of Discussion Card games that stimulate meaningful focused discussion about their mental health, between teens and teachers, youth workers, educators, parents in a non-judgemental way. Her aim is for teens to start to talk about the social or challenging health issues in their lives and pick up the discussion cards that have a magic twist and start talking about how they feel. These talking therapy tools can be used in a one-to-one basis or in a group classroom situation or in a recreational setting in a youth club. They are also going into adult services now i.e. .bereavement/hospices/counselling.
Series 2A covers ten topical discussions around HEALTH
How the game works:
There are 10 ‘CHOICE’ Discussion Card sets in the HEALTH series.
Game 1) DEPRESSION
Game 2) ALCOHOL
Game 3) ADDICTIONS
Game 4) HYGIENE
Game 5) SEX EDUCATION
Game 6) SMOKING
Game 7) BEREAVEMENT
Game 8) HEALTHY EATING
Game 9) STD’s
Game 10) SEXUALITY
For each game there is one question, such as "WHAT DOES DEPRESSION MEAN TO YOU?"
(Game 1 SERIES 1A HEALTH)
There are approximately 25 answer cards in each set covering responses such as "Sad Feelings”, “Not having anyone to talk to about something” or “Not having any fun”. The teenager is encouraged to choose and place the answer cards in order of importance, according to how they feel. The order of the cards provokes thought and discussion in an empowering way, the cards can be moved at any time for a complete in-depth flow of thoughts and feelings to be spoken about
Communication, connection, education, support and emotional wellbeing leads to personal growth and the confidence to make the right choices to live in a world of sense worth, self-direction and healthy functioning of the health of mind.
Praise for EGAR products:
"I'm impressed by the EGAR 'Choice' Discussion Cards and Posters. I work with 11 to 20 year olds in an area of London where kids are under peer pressure to be someone they are not. They don't like what's going on but can easily be led and don't think about their thoughts or actions. The cards get them thinking about the consequences of what they do. I was shocked how much they opened up - it's like planting a pea in their head; they're more aware and start to grow. They should be used in every secondary school." Paul Canoville, ex Chelsea FC player, now a youth worker and teaching assistant.
"Rarely do I come across resources that I want to shout about but this is one of them. These games are simple, to the point, and allow workers to open up conversations without young people feeling threatened. All the groups I tried them with wanted more." Richard Frankland, Prospex Youth Services Manager
Scott-Horne says, “EGAR resources fill a gap for staff teams to communicate and discuss real issues, especially mental health issues in young people’s lives. EGAR’s ‘Choice’ Discussion cards and posters tie in with the governments ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda as well as being an additional and complementary tool for the national core or recreational curriculums. Adolescence is a massive transition, there is so much that happens at that time for young people in terms of personal development. These aren’t simply a discussion tool but can actually help change young people’s minds and attitudes opening up better decisions made and of course consequences. This in turn will raise young people’s self esteem and confidence and well-being making them valuable healthy citizens of society.”
Each card set retails at £20.00 with a mixed set of ten £180.00 (one game free).
Samples available upon request. The full range is available at http://www.egar.co.uk/, online at Amazon.co.uk and W.H. Smith.
